Farmers are seeking ways to fend off birds who are stirring up soil in flooded paddy fields in Ferrara province
An unusual bird is ravaging crops and infuriating farmers in north-eastern Italy: the flamingo.
Flamingos are relatively recent arrivals in the area, and have settled into the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna.
The birds aren’t targeting the rice seedlings but use their webbed feet to stir up the soil and snatch molluscs, algae or insects from the shallow water. The rice is collateral damage.
There are quite a few dryland crops. The rice usually used for Risotto, in this case Arborio, is not one of them.
I’m pretty sure that even if you grew Arborio as a dryland that you couldn’t sell it as Arborio because of DOP. Which would change its flavor, probably its starch balance, and decrease its price.